A virus research center inRussia– one of two places in the world that houses thesmallpox virus– exploded on Monday, officials said.
The blast at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, or “Vector,” left one employee injured and the building,located in Koltsovo, near the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, survived without structural damage,according to a statementfrom the facility.
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The suspected gas explosion happened on the fifth floor of the 6-floor concrete building during scheduled repairs, Russian-owned news agencyTASS reported.
Nikolai Krasnikov, the head of Koltsovo – which is known as a science city – said no biohazardous material was being stored where the blast occurred, and that there’s no threat to the population. He added the worker who was injured suffered burns and is in intensive care.
A virus research lab in Russia, one of two places in the world that stores the smallpox virus, was rocked by an explosion on Monday, officials said. (REUTERS)
The facility in Russia, created in 1974, is one of two places that stores the variola virus, otherwise known as the deadly infectious smallpox disease. The other location is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) inAtlanta, (Ga.
Described as “one of the world most devastating diseases known to humanity, “smallpox wasdeclared eradicatedby the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980 following a worldwide immunization campaign.
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But following its eradication, scientists and public health officials felt research was still necessary and agreed to hold the smallpox virus in four locations across the world – theUS, Russia,EnglandandSouth Africa.
Within years, England and South Africa de stroyed their stocks of the virus or transferred them to other labs – leaving the U.S. and Russia to be the only locations left to store the deadly disease,according tothe CDC.
In 2016,WHO determinedthe Vector facility “was found to meet international levels of biosafety and biosecurity for variola virus research and storage.”
The Vector lab facility also stores theEbola virus, also a rare and deadly disease. In 2004,The New York Times reporteda Russian scientist at the lab died after accidentally pricking herself with a needle that contained Ebola, for which there is no vaccine. The incident reportedly happened on May 5, but the research lab didn’t report it to WHO until later that month – sparking concerns about the level of secrecy around the facility.
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The latest explosion follows two incident which happened in Russia last month. Massive explosions were first recordedat a military ammunition depotnear the city of Achinsk in eastern Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.
That was followed by adeadly explosion at a military weapons testing range in Nyonoksa, in the far northern Arkhangelsk region left at least five people dead. Officials said theexplosion occurred while engineers were testing“a nuclear isotope power source” for a rocket and were thrown into the sea by the explosion.
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